Small Investors May Get to Own a Bit of Facebook

Facebook, which plans to make a market debut this month that could value it at $86 billion, is the stock that everyone seems to want. If you are a small investor, lots of luck. Typically, shares of the hottest initial public offerings go almost entirely to the biggest clients of the Wall Street banks that oversee the stock sale. And no I.P.O. is as big or as eagerly awaited this year as Facebook’s. Yet there may be a sliver of hope. Facebook’s executives and underwriters have discussed raising the number of shares that will go to retail investors, say people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak on the record. It is not known how much will eventually go to these mom-and-pop investors, but Wall Street executives estimate that the retail share could be as much as 20 to 25 percent of the offering. Some of that increase is likely to go to brokerage firms like TD Ameritrade or E*Trade, which cater to small investors.